Jammin´

 

Probably the wrong chant 

"Nichiren Buddhism in the Contemporary Jazz Improvisation of Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter" is one of the more curious articles I ever read. It´s strictly speaking a kind of speech or tribute delivered at a conference in Arizona, the First Jazz and Philosophy Intermodal Conference (JPIC) in 2017 to be exact. None other than legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock was supposed to participate at the con, but for some reason his participation had to be cancelled at the last moment, but the tribute by Steve Odin was delivered anyway. To be absolutely blunt, the article mostly repeats the same statements over and over again, almost as if it was a Buddhist chant. But then, it *is* (after a fashion) about Buddhist chanting!

Herbie Hancock is a Black American jazz musician who converted to a rather heterodox form of Japanese Buddhism, known as Nichiren Buddhism and represented in the United States by Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Wayne Shorter and Tina Turner have also been associated with the SGI. In passing, the article mentions that many jazz musicians were inspired by religious and spiritual sources, ranging from Christianity and Islam to Scientology, Bahai and the Fourth Way. The article then discusses some aspects of SGI metaphysics. The concept of "Buddha-nature" as expressed through "Three thousand realms in a single moment of life" is interpreted as the microcosmos reflecting the macrocosmos. This is connected in the "mutual containment of the ten worlds" - the idea that each one of us is simultaneously in ten states at the same time, ranging from Hell to Buddhahood. By chanting the mystical mantra Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the individual can unlock his creative potential in every moment, presumably accessing the "realms" or "worlds" we presently are unaware of. In this way, we can "create values" (Soka Gakkai means Value Creating Society), the most important of which are beauty, goodness and practical benefit. SGI seems to have amended the traditional Nichiren metaphysics with the idea of a vitalistic life-force that can be accessed through the mantra. 

Apparently, SGI founder Ikeda was interested in art, music and aesthetics. This presumably explains why some musicians and singers are drawn to this particular New Religious Movement. I read elsewhere that the SGI also promote Western classical music. Jazz seem to fall on the other end of the musical spectrum! 

As for Hancock, he apparently used the above take on creativity to further his work as a jazz musician, since jazz is based on improvisation and hence "creativity in every moment". I admit that I don´t get it - it sounds frankly pretentious and pseudo-intellectual - but then, I´m not a jazz aficionado, so I´m gonna give the bro the benefit of the doubt here. And in case the talk about unlimited creativity locked in every occasion sounds a bit like Whitehead, why, Odin has written a paper on process philosophy, too...